Regression Testing Templates and Tricks

Testing your website or software application can be time-consuming, but it can help ensure a smooth user experience for your visitors and backend users. We build testing phases into every project or feature rollout; but it’s helpful to repeat testing activities, even well after deployment, to identify vulnerabilities and breakdowns before they are reported to you by your users.

The Regression Testing Template

There are many types of testing procedures for documenting and validating software functionality at every stage of its development. Perhaps one of the most under-utilized, but highly effective, procedures is regression testing. Here is a high-level overview of what regression testing is, including when and why to develop regression tests. And because I love templates, I’m also offering a quick way to develop your own tests with a few easy, customizable regression testing templates.

The What, When and Why of Regression Testing

Regression testing is designed to identify any breakdown in existing software functionality that may result from other changes introduced – including hosting environment updates, CMS changes (ex: WordPress core or plugin updates), new code additions, feature or design enhancements, etc. When one aspect of the software changes, regression tests can help identify if another aspect stops working or has been adversely affected.

How often you’re making changes to your software, how visible those changes are, and their potential impact, are all factors that will influence the frequency schedule for your regression testing. For example, if you’re making monthly updates and have a broad user base that relies on your software, you may want to conduct regression testing every month. Because testing can be somewhat time consuming, it may not be realistic or efficient to test all features in a software system or application every time tests are conducted. Instead, identify and focus solely on the areas that are most likely to be impacted by your recent changes.

The main benefit of regression testing is quality assurance. It helps maintain the integrity of your software over time as changes are introduced and systems become dated. But it also can help create a paper trail of software evolution, showing and documenting changes in requirements and functionality over time. Not to mention, it can act as supplemental training documentation for new project, product or quality assurance managers who need to familiarize themselves with a software’s requirements and use cases.

How to Create Your Own Tests Using a Regression Testing Template

Check out the sample Regression Testing Templateand Regression Testing Summary Report Template (which we can email to you as a spreadsheet once you download the template above) for a look at how to conduct regression testing. Test scripts can pinpoint entire applications or a specific feature on a website. The regression testing document template is used to capture the specific requirements and specifications of a software component, and guide the evaluator through validating the required functionality. The regression testing summary report template can be used to keep track of all testing scripts and the testing schedule at large.